You Define Aging

C

Commander Quan

The Cheese stands alone
Aging is a term that gets thrown around a lot here, I was just wondering what everyone considered aged. Is is 2 months, 6 months, a year 5 years or more? Or is the trip back from the mail box long enough?
Personally I have never bought anything with the intent to age it, sometimes cigars sit around for a long time until I get the chance or desire to smoke it but I have never said "This is going in the cooler till 2010"
 
I age my sticks just enough that I think they're at their peak and I'm not wasting them by smoking them. Aging for the sake of aging is simply beyond my comprehension.
:2
 
I'll be the first (okay, second) to chime in with my perspective.
I consider a sticked aged after a minimum of 2-3 years from the date code. This, of course, is with respect to Cuban cigars. For non-cubans, I guess the question arises as to when the clock starts ticking.

On a humorous note, I read a post here on CS a log time ago that the poster had received some smokes in the mail and was going to "age them for 2 or 3 days" in his humidor before smoking them. Made me chuckle.
 
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pnoon said:
I'll be the first to chime in with my perspective.
I consider a sticked aged after a minimum of 2-3 years from the date code. This, of course, is with respect to Cuban cigars. For non-cubans, I guess the question arises as to when the clock starts ticking.
Click to expand...

:tpd:

I think I have to agree with Mr. Pnoon when it comes to CCs. For some reason stuff from 04/05 seems young to me. Maybe it's because I read too many posts here on CS? :r


For NCs, it is shorter for me, I would say something like a year or more. Before that, they are just resting.
 
a few months in my mind does not qualify as aging. I'm pretty new, but in my mind to really age cigars, you really have to plan ahead and expect to store sticks for at least a few years. Though most cigar smokers may not make cigar purchases with the plan of smoking them a few years down the road or more, if you really want "age" on your cigars, you have to. IMO, 2-3 years and you can call it aged, a well-aged stick is 5+ and vintage is 10+. Keep in mind, people who are serious about aging sticks make box purchases so that they can periodically try them out to see how they're aging, while still having enough to store away.
 
I add a qualifier; I consider resting some of smokes important, because it really has a positive effect on their taste. So when I get a sampler or two of a brand and smoke one, if it tastes rough or vague, I will know that it will get better with some time at rest in my humi. I never plan to leave em sit that long but, the more smokes I have acquired, the more some of my earlier smokes remain at rest. Now I have many smokes which have been resting for well over a year. I don't call it aging because I didn't intend to age them under the proper aging conditions. I do have one box which I intend as an aging place, and most of the sticks in it have been there for about a year and a half. I smoke one every now and then, and can tell that time will have a positive effect on a decent cigar.
For CC's I am just starting to get into smoking them, and I am finding that some of those I have need a lot more time at rest before I can smoke them, either because they are too harsh, too vague or just plain "off". So, I have enough smokes to occupy me while I bring those that need more time up to snuff.
 
I've experienced with different cigar...I currently have a Juan Lopez experiement going on right now...since my humi is less than 2 years anyways, I don't have much experience personally. My eldest, I believe, is a Monty Silver (DR) that's one of the first cigars I ever purchasd. I have not the strength to smoke it at this point in time.:)
 
I think any place in between 2 - 4 years is just perfect for a cigar. This give s a cigar plenty of time to rest and give you a nice smoke.
 
Tough for me to say since I have been smoking for only a year now. That being said, I did smoke a two year old stick in one of my NSTs that was excellent!

I guess if we really wanted to define aging, we could say Sarah Jessica Parker from `97 to `07. :w
 
doctorcue said:
Tough for me to say since I have been smoking for only a year now. That being said, I did smoke a two year old stick in one of my NSTs that was excellent!

I guess if we really wanted to define aging, we could say Sarah Jessica Parker from `97 to `07. :w
Click to expand...

:r We aren't talking horse faces.
 
"Aging" is the time it takes to make your cigar taste different than it was when you put into your cabinet. How long that is, is a matter of opinion. A cigar may be "aged" at some point, but be at its peak at another. Actual time frames are too ethereal to really spell out without referring to a specific cigar. Even at that, it's a matter of opinion.
 
I'd say it's defined less a function of time, but what types of tastes develop. For example, some cigars taste good without any aging, since the manufacturer already did that for you. These don't have any harsh ammonia type tastes. Then there are others where you must do that yourself. For these types aging makes a huge difference and during this period where there are harsh tastes, it is referred to as the "sick" period. For these types of sticks, the first aging period going from harsh to smooth can be anywhere between 2-4/5 years. This depends on the boxes they were stored and what types of conditions. From there on out, aging continues evolving into different types of complexity. Getting back to the question, a cigar with age I'd define initially as one without the ammonia taste. Thus, I'd define it based on tastes. And then from there on out ward there are different stages of aging resulting in complex tastes, while bearing in mind that some smokes age better than others.
 
I define aging as growing old. Thats why most of my sticks never age very long. Although I have a few hoyo dark sumatras that im hoping will bloom, because that is the sign of perfect aging.
 
I'm not an expert on aging. All I know is that most if not all of my new cigars benifit from a couple of months in my humidor. Thats the way that I enjoy them.
 
Henry and I talked this one over this afternoon.

He's over 80, and said this:

"If my cigars out-live me, I don't figure I'm gonna' enjoy them much... PERIOD"
 
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